Blog

I started Sunday awakened by my alarm on my iPhone at 6:30 from dreaming of work. Always a disappointment to not dream of exotic places or terrible vistas but to dream of working. Monday is my first day back after nine days, and I guess my dream was a complaint that I return to work soon. It was hard to get started as my bed and blankets were like a siren song of comfortable, if not dull, dreams. “Rest here and let the world go on without you,” were the words my pillow was whispering. Finally, I pushed away their illusions and stood and marched like a soldier to the kitchen.

I managed a bread-like un-French croissant with a banana with my liberal coffee made in a French press for breakfast. Today I would regret not making a whole pot! I took my food to my new office space in the back of the house and started to write. While I do not dread writing the Saturday blog on Sunday morning, it would be over 1,800 words and take about two hours to write; it is a longish task. I would have some interruptions, so it would not be finished until 9ish or later.

The coffee and food worked, and so did a few side trips to the websites Board Game Geek and Wikipedia to learn a few things, but mostly I just wrote the long story of my Saturday. I manage to do a whole weekend in one day.

I was in the shower, dressed, and headed out by 10:15ish, having finished the blog and collected all I needed to see Susie today. No church today as I could not fit it in. I reached the hummingbird house before 11. Susie was in her recliner, and Rachel was today’s morning nursing aide. Rachel got Susie moved into the wheelchair, and it was a pleasant day; we headed to the park. The park was not busy as it was still morning on Sunday. Picnics were just starting. The sun was out, and the Oregon Swallowtail butterfly, now named Elrond by Susie, was in the cedars. We had stopped in the shade of the trees at the bench. This was after having to share the road with a little person on a tricycle. The little girl was followed by her dad as she drove into the park. Dad turned her around as she was going to join a tennis match.

We enjoyed the warmth and called Leta, Susie’s mother, on the iPhone, and Susie and she caught up. Leta had not, as I reported yesterday, gone to the DIA Monet show but to a Lecture on the Sistine Chapel at the Ford Presidental Libary in Grand Rapids. While they chatted, Evan appeared on his break. He was happy to see Susie and could only stay a few minutes. Susie was glad to see Evan, and all talked for a bit. As his break was short, Evan had to head out, and I pushed Susie through the park, the road, and back to the hummingbird house.

Susie was up for a movie. So Rachel got Susie comfortable in a recliner in the activity room. I wrapped a present for Natasha’s graduation, Soviet chess set from the 1950-60s that I bought from Ukraine. I decorated the chessboard with a map of Berlin and applied the seal of NATO and the USSR to the chess pieces. Susie approved of the gift and watched me wrap it. I wanted to include Susie in the gift process, so I took wrapping paper, tape, and scissors to the hummingbird house.

Next, we watched a movie, the old musical Singing in the Rain, with Susie and me sometimes singing along. This one is a fav.

After the movie, I had to head home, getting a goodbye kiss–Susie was sorry to miss the wedding celebration, and then to the wedding celebration of Natasha Smith and Jason Kramer at Shadywood Park in Hillsboro. So the stop at the house was just to drop off the Mac and other computer items.

I was soon at the wedding party and had gourmet chicken made by Natasha’s father, David, and her sister Cat. After that, I spent the rest of the day hanging out and eating more food. It was so lovely to see the Smiths plus Jason again. Everyone missed Susie.

I gave Natasha her graduation gift, the chess set. She seemed to like it.

I left after 7:30 as I was getting tired, which meant I was likely more tired than I realized. I said my goodbyes to Natasha and Jason, and the Smiths.

I got home and found my office had been invaded by tiny ants. I decided to commit insecticide and sprayed the baseboards, windows, desk legs, and anything else an ant might use to get to my computer. Warm computers attract ants, and there was a small mass of bugs trying to ruin my Mac!

I had to open the windows and air out the office as I had maybe sprayed too much; I am liberal, after all. I read World War Two while I waited for the air to clear–in the completion of just a few pages I read, the Red Army took 750,000 casualties–it is a truly terrifying history.

I finally got to the blog.

I did miss out on some unexpected excitement at church; a crazed squirrel entered the church and needed to be convinced it did not need to be there. It was evacuated before worship service, I was told.

Thanks for reading. Hope it is not too rushed.

My alarm on my iPhone woke me at 6:30. I could have slept in, but I wanted to finish the blog in the morning and try not to be too late to see Susie at hummingbird house. So I was not in a hurry. I made breakfast in the kitchen and then carried the plate and water to my new office in the back of the house. It is nice to have a place to work again. I also started finishing a load of laundry by putting it in the drier.

I spent the morning reading some emails and writing the Friday blog. I managed to be late to see Susie, almost 11 by the time I finished the blog, showered, dressed, and got organized to leave. I do not return to the house on Saturdays, so I must load the car with everything I need.

Air Volvo had a tire alert, but I suspect it was a temperature or sensor glitch. I reset the tire monitoring system, and the warning went away. I called the mothership and left a message with the service department to see if they could move up my appointment from September (!) to August. I would forgo the loaner car if that could enable the change. I have noticed the alerts on my cars (and all the Volvos) seem to sense the Nike bonus deposit and light up within weeks on the money appearing in my account. Thus, I was not at the least surprised that the tire light went off.

Safely arriving at hummingbird house, Susie was delighted to see me, but I saw some extra-legal lane changes while driving through Beaverton, with one car changing all the lanes in front of me. We had tax business to get done first. A Metro tax needs to be paid; we owe interest and 20% for missing this new tax. I had no idea about it, and with the events of 2021-2022, I am not surprised I missed the tax as I did our taxes in the middle of chemotherapy. Susie needed to sign the tax form. We practiced, and Susie could not remember how to spell her name, and the scrawl was not recognizable. I gave Susie the Metro tax form, and she put her mark on it, and I then signed her name next to it. I am sure that will do; they just want the money anyway. We both signed.

Aside: I will need to sit Susie down and practice some writing. She could make out a drifting signature before that sort of matched her signature. My lawyer believes I will need a guardianship for Susie, but that is expensive and time-consuming, so I have deferred it as the medical expenses are more important than this.

I wrote the more than $1,000 check and then sealed up the envelope, supplied and addressed by the CPA, and will mail it soon. Next, it was cool, 68F (20C) outside, and the sky was gray with clouds but little chance of rain. We made a short trip to the park next door, Metzger Park. Susie’s mother, Leta, and her sister, Barb, were at a Monet exhibit in Detroit, and we could not reach them for the usual call. So we called Zorida to say hello for a few moments.

Susie dressed warmly today, but soon the park was getting too cold for us. It is strange to be cold in August in Oregon!

We returned to the hummingbird house and got Susie comfortable in a recliner in the activity room with Vanessa’s help (Vanessa working a long shift on Saturday as our nursing aide). I picked the movie Atomic Blond, as the music is from the 1980s and is an action spy thriller. Susie liked it and enjoyed all the music.

Atomic Blond is set in 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall and has some fantastic recreation of Cold War Berlin and the emotion of the spies that now see the end of their way of life. Charlize Theron does fight after fight and is busy exploring the more direct side of spycraft. I liked it, and Susie liked the music and stunts.

Evan showed just as the movie hit the credits. I was cold and had even used a blanket for part of the movie. Vanessa took Susie to lunch and then to a nap. I said goodbye with a kiss.

Evan and I met for lunch in old Beaverton and tried out Top Burmese Bistro Royale for lunch. I had the pumpkin curry (vegan) and a Kingfisher beer I later learned is made in America now. It did not taste like what I remembered. Evan tried a beef curry.

We tried a new tap house, Rain Drop, and had a beer to help pay for the table. Next, we set up the board game Vindication. It was a long game this time, and Evan managed to keep his lead all through the game, and a last-minute Monster card gave him the game by one point. Vindication has a random end-of-game trigger, and these accumulate as players score. Had I been able to trip the end-of-game sooner, I would have won with all the masteries I bought. Still, Evan played well and deserves credit for his win by collecting rewards for visiting the various cool places on the board–also randomly determined. It was hard to lose by one point. Next time!

Notice the round scoring tokens; yes, blue is one point behind!

Aside: I have described Vindication often in the blog. You can find more information here: Vindication. It was made here in the Pacific Northwest, and I know the game designer and had some input into the final game. As a Kickstarter game, its buy-in price has ballooned (all of the cool add-ons that attract folks to Kickstarter increase the price) to $349 (you can still get it from Game Steward). I have bought my copy piece by piece over the years, one Kickstarter at a time, and so have not noticed the high price. The next game I played at Richard’s is the same story: Wonderland Wars. The Kickstarter version retails at over $300 if you can find it on eBay or other secondary markets (Game Steward is out of stock).

As I hinted, after lunch and a good game with Evan, I headed out to Portland and Richard’s house. I was dead tired, and I am not sure if it was the two beers, lunch, or all the stress (i.e., taxes, Susie’s health, learning to live alone, mailboxes, IKEA furniture, and so on). I managed to turn off too soon, and Air Volvo provided a tour of Portland, Oregon. Portland is recovering, I noticed, and while homeless and graffiti still suggest there is much to do, I know my new tax payment will help (Metro Supportive Housing Services (SHS) personal income tax) as it is directed to these issues. Painful, as I could use the money, but our joint responsibility is to help. Remember, we are all in this together–nobody gets off the planet alive.

I was just a few minutes early for the 6PM game. I did get some fries and a shake at McDonald’s in Portland to help me wake up. Shawn and his wife-to-be from Milan, Italy, Valorian, and Richard, were ready to play Wonderland Wars–I had no time to watch a how-to-play video, so I went into the game cold. I got the randomly assigned Jabberwocky to play, a famous but minor character in Alice in Wonderland, while Shawn was Alice, Richard the Mad Hatter, and Valorian the Red Queen.

The game is new and has all the bling of a Kickstarter version, plus the gorgeous art and larger components we now expect in new games. The game is a mix of resource management and dudes-on-a-board we see on higher-end Kickstarter, with Richard having painted the miniatures in cartoon colors. It also adds a bag, and the resources are tokens placed in a bag. The main action is divided into the Tea Party and the War. You collect four cards, with each character having a unique power to get more cards, or in my case, as Jabberwocky, I could poison a card. The cards give you upgrades, quests (for victory points), and resources. Many of the resources are helpful tokens for your bag. In addition, you can ally with famous and less well-known Wonderland characters (many with a figure). The figures are a few inches tall and have a cartoon look.

After that, we did the war portion of the game. We would battle for control of various territories in Wonderland by drawing power or madness from our bags of tokens. You can always stop; each draw could be madness (a damaging token) or something good. Many of the tokens you would have earned in the Tea Party. While I was lost for much of the game, my last place score clearly showed this (I also had trouble concentrating); I truly loved the mix of various game systems in a clean and well-thought-out game. We did bounce to the rules often, but the rules checks were all for exceptions. Richard’s copy is lovely with the painted figures, and I look forward to playing it again–I will resist the $300+ to get my own copy and paint the figures.

Aside: Richard’s figures were slightly dulled by the clear coat. The metal colors were no longer shiny to his great unhappiness. I have seen this before in figure painting. I now use very light coats of flat clear coats as many contain a white material that fades the underneath work. Mr. Hobby Mr. Super Clear Flat is my go-to, and this was after being disappointed by other sprays. The higher price, expensive and imported from Japan, had stopped me from using it, but I had a few figures’ tan colors turn gray. I noticed that Mr. Hobby’s products were mentioned in all the high-end model-building articles and videos. I have used them with great results, but always light coats!

I was tired and stopped, unusual for me, at 9:30 with the completion of Wonderland Wars, and drove home without issue. However, I did stop by the 24-hour open lobby Post Office in Aloha and mailed our tax forms and payment (done!), and got home and ramped down soon.

I managed to write a few words on my Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure; I believe you need to make progress every day or lose the momentum you build up. I completed a chapter of The Second World War by Anthony Beevor, and another 100,000 people died on the Russian front and from the expansion of the Holocaust in 1941. It is nightmarish reading and has clarified some of the Cold War policies and Human Rights focus of the twentieth Century for me.

Hoping not to hear the screams of WW2, I fell asleep and dreamed instead of working.

Thank you for reading.

The morning started with me getting going at about 6:30 as I had to be at Susie’s on time. Physical Therapy (PT) was coming at 11ish. My office is now in the back bedroom, so it was strange to make breakfast and then take it to the office. I used to work just next to the kitchen. I had liberal coffee with yogurt and a croissant, an industrial one that would shock a Frenchman. It is certainly not, as described in Wikipedia, “A croissant is a buttery, flaky, French viennoiserie pastry inspired by the shape of the Austrian kipferl but using the French yeast-leavened laminated dough.” But still not a bad breakfast.

I wrote the blog and put the dirty laundry in the washer. I then showered and dressed and jumped in Air Volvo, which delivered me without any issue, but with a high count of police along the way, to hummingbird house. Susie was eating very slowly but ate most of her breakfast. Susie was leaning oddly to the right when eating and sitting in her wheelchair.

Rick was only a few minutes late for the PT appointment. We looked at the hummingbird house’s pedals, tried them out, and failed. So I ordered new pedals for Susie. I ordered using my Mac, “Cubii JR1 or JR2, Under Desk Elliptical, Bike Pedal Exerciser.” It will be here on Sunday and ready for PT when they come next week.

We discussed the standing frame, I had made no progress on acquiring that equipment, but I promised to look into it. Which I did after the PT by calling multiple medical equipment places. Nobody had one, and I am getting a price to buy one as so far nobody rents one. I was surprised to see prices in the $3,000-$4,000 range, so I will discuss this more with Tracy, the PT person who thought we could use one.

Returning to PT with Rick, Susie scared us by learning so far in her wheelchair to almost fall out of it. Rick and I had to guard Susie a few times, and I had to help some. I usually try to stay out of the way most time and just listen, but Susie was leaning, and her right side was not responding to her, so I was needed. This reminded me of the signs of the debilitating stroke in October 2022, and Vanessa, the nurse aide in the morning, had told me Susie seemed quieter than usual today. So I am worried but not panicked; I have seen this before.

Susie could be having a bad day. She struggled with breakfast and PT. She looked tired, and her stroke damage resurfaces like an old sports injury when she is tired.

Rick completed his evaluation, and Susie will get four weeks of visits, which is excellent. So Rick left, and Susie and I headed out to Mezger Park. It was a cool 70F (21F) overcast–there was no sunshine to warm you.

We just headed to our favorite bench in the cedars, and it was even a bit cooler there, as usual. The insects were still resting and waiting for the warm sun to get them going. We called Leta, Susie’s mother, and they talked on my iPhone for a while using FaceTime. Susie was better. Leta could only chat for a bit as the church wore matching t-shirts to a local baseball game, the Lansing Lugnuts. There were fireworks planned after the game, so Leta was excited. Leta loves parades and fireworks. Leta was worried about Covid, but it should not be a high-risk activity as it was outside.

Susie was cold when we headed back. We went right in, and Vanessa moved Susie to her recliner in the living room. Susie again leaned to the right, and Vanessa had to move Susie again to safer.

I sat next to Susie on the couch, looking up equipment on the Internet and calling local suppliers. No dice. One will call me back with a price. I will call them back on Monday as they likely closed, it being Friday, before getting a quote.

I left with a kiss and headed home via The Olive Garden. I ordered soup and salad in the car using the app before driving there across Beaverton, where I saw at least two of Beaverton’s Finest bouncing radars on Air Volvo. As usual, I never touched my phone and was attentive to the ever-changing speed levels in Beaverton. The 20 mph area near the library is new and requires braking, and I nearly missed the first sign. Invariably, one must be diligent in following the laws in Beaverton.

I used the Olive Garden app to tell the folks which car part I was at, #5. Soon the food was placed in the back seat without contact. It is always great to see folks play by the rules–even when the nice gal was unmasked.

I took my food bounty with me home in Air Volvo. There I had the salad, soup, and two breadsticks–the policy is now that Olive Garden provides two breadsticks with an entree. There was some hubbub about this a few years ago, and the two breadsticks became the default, not the three that most folks remember.

I also purchased a premade spaghetti with meat sauce designed to be microwaved.

Next, I headed to Hillsboro. There Darren, my new CPA, had a tax amendment for me. I had missed the new TriMet Tax for 2021- a new special local tax. Darren was unhappy to show that I owed, with penalties and interest, just over $1,000. However, I was happy to get it paid before they come looking, or the penalties are higher.

After getting the paperwork, I tried so antique stores in Hillsboro. I found in the Hill Theater, now a messy antique mall with all the seats pulled out and the floor mostly level, an Exporter Encycopidia from 1918, including all the clipped pages for corrections. The book, purchased for $8.50 in 1918 (about $172), came with a monthly update and news on exporters and shipping–this was before air cargo (literally shipping). It covers all the rules dealing with the war (WW1 does not formally end until far into 1919) and has such interesting facts as how much space a ton of banana takes up in cargo space. I history geek fest! Later, I ordered a 1924 version of the same book for my Call of Cthulhu writing.

Next, in the shop Le Stuff, another more orderly and friendly antique mall, I found an old suitcase that just screams the 1920s (it is likely a 1940-50s knock-off of better 1920-30s luggage with a painted cloth that looks like leather) for only $24. It does not smell of mildew, so I got it. Even empty, it was heavy. I also found an excellent working, very old combination square that is smaller and would work for me on modeling. I took my new treasures home.

I did notice that the local gas in Hillsboro was cheaper than anywhere. So I filled up there.

I rested a bit and then started writing more of my Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure; I am beginning to conclude the first part. I had the sushi plate, which I picked up a Basics for dinner while I tried to use the Internet and then watch a movie. My Infinity (Comcast) connection had again collapsed to near dial-up speeds. I called them, and the robots sent me to get help from a texting expert and then sent me a text when nobody responded to use their unhelpful chatbot. I powered down the modem for ten minutes, restarted it, and got terrible but not impossibly bad service (maybe DSL speed).

I ordered Ziply Fiber to install their service at the house. As I do not have fiber coming to the house (I once had fiber, and then AT&T was bought by Comcast, and I was changed to cable), I suspect this will be an adventure. I have Friday 1-5PM to enjoy the experience. Once they are installed, for $99 a month, I will cancel Xfinity–I have twenty years with them (starting with the various companies that were merged in a Wall Street orgy of money and fees to form the unapproachable Comcast). Still, I don’t need the cable show, and I need fast working and reliable Internet access.

Aside: Ziply Fiber was another creation of merging small companies into an Internet (literally, in this case) start-up. They have to expand to survive, and their record for service is mixed. I hope that the technology change to real fiber to the house will at least give me a better chance for good access to the Internet.

Of course, I receive an email that requires me to do something with Ziply that does not work. I call them, and they bounce me around; the call center is in the Philippines, and while well trained to be friendly and happy, the nice folks seemed a bit lost on my question–how could I be the first one? After placing me on hold for a while to consult, they told me that it would be OK once I am installed next Friday, and I thank them, and they profusely thanked me for the opportunity to give me excellent service. Douglas Adams, long gone, would be grabbing a towel after that call. I added a towel to my office now.

Deciding that I needed something productive to do to get that strange out-of-this-world feeling out of my mind, I drove to Lowe’s super hardware mall. Yes, a house repair will get me back to myself and stop looking up at the sky for a Vogon fleet.

I look at mailboxes; mine was recently hit again by a car, likely the mailman. The metal box is barely mounted on the post, has been repainted twice, is covered with moss, the paint, again, is failing, the dents from someone taking a ball bat to it (they mistook for my neighbor’s mailbox who apparently had angered the drunk-high-under medicated person) are pronounced, been dented by paintballs or shot with some kind of low-power projectile (I did not ask questions), and lost it flag years ago. I bought the cheapest solid plastic (made in America) black mailbox. I then stopped by Jim’s to get an ice cream cone, once again entering Hillsboro. I had a Rock Road in a waffle cone. I then searched for Shadingwood Park as the Smith family will celebrating Natasha’s wedding there (they were married last year, I believe) on Sunday. I found it in a lovely park hidden in a new subdivision of moderate to expensive new homes. I finished my ice cream in the park talking to the squirrels (again, nature makes me get over thinking I am in a Douglas Adams novel).

On the way, I called hummingbird house and talked to Susie. She seemed OK. Jennifer said Susie had a nap and then dinner and seemed to be herself. I was much relieved.

Returning home, I got out my new smallish drill and tried to politely disassemble the old mailbox. Nope, I got a hammer and eye protection. I found that one lonely screw was holding the box to the pole. I smashed the box off the post with a few solid hits with Dad’s Old Adjusting Tool–something that cars, ball bats, and low-powered projectiles had failed to do, and then installed the new plastic one. Instead of attaching a wood plate to the post and then the mailbox to the plate with side screws (which did not come with the cheap mailbox), I took advantage of the cheap plastic and forced screws through the bottom into the wood. Six screws later, my neighbors and mailman have a new fresh target. I also put a few longer screws in the side post that holds up the box (it is just butted to the main post)–no reason to make it easy for them.

Come and get it!

With that home repair done, I was feeling better now. So, I went back to writing about undead mummies and poison traps in my D&D 5E adventure. I went to bed at about 10:30 and quickly fell asleep.

Thank you for reading.

 

 

Yesterday, Thursday, was a bit of a blur of activity and bizarre weather, which I will try to relate. I was up later, after 7:30, and did not rush and had a bagel, a bread like local version, with cream cheese with liberal Equal Exchange coffee. I read my email and wrote the blog. Then, before I knew it, I was late to see Susie. Rick from Providence and physical therapy re-assessment is scheduled for 11 Friday. Because Susie missed her four weeks of PT due to Covid-19, they have to redo the assessment–frustrating.

I finally managed to board Air Volvo and get to the hummingbird house after 11. Susie was in her recliner and was delighted to see me in the morning. It was overcast, humid, and already 84F (29C)–we never get rain in August, but it sprinkled in the late afternoon. So Susie and I headed to Metzger Park next door to the hummingbird house.

The park was busy. School is starting, and a bus full of kids, each with a pullover identifying them (an intelligent teacher got those), was playing on the swings, monkey bars, and other various kid things. There was a group of folks playing basketball on the courts. A dad and one older kid were playing against him, smaller younger kids. Dad threw the ball to smaller kids who often made a basket, and I could see the older kid was learning not to hog the ball.

Our favorite swallowtail butterfly was fluttering among the cedars, but the kids had our favorite bench in the shade with the cedars. With the new high numbers for Covid-19 infections and the start of school, it is no time for Susie and me to hang out with a random sampling of school kids! So I found another bench, sat, and called Leta on the phone. Susie and Leta chatted for a while.

Soon, it was getting hot, but I took Susie for an extended walk through the neighborhood. We also explored one of the short roads to look at the houses on a flag pole lot. The heat and the humidity finally drove me to take Susie back to the hummingbird house, and we sat on the porch for a bit. Jennifer, the nurse aide, brought water for both of us.

Susie was getting sleepy, so I left with a kiss while Jennifer took Susie to her room. Air Volvo took me straight home. I had a late lunch of left-over Jambalaya, which I ate while watching some history videos on YouTube. I like the Battleship New Jersey‘s channel, with the head curator for the battleship now presenting an excellent video. He has been watching the other channels, and I can see how his editing has improved and echo other historical video channels.

I rested for a bit but could not stand that I had not finished the IKEA assembly and went to take on The Desk. Just opening the giant cardboard was a challenge. I tore it open, not wanting to damage anything with a box cutter (which I did not have anyway). It is a big desk! I then followed the instructions and only got hit in the head once when trying to assemble the legs for the table.

I put the wrong part on, but I had only set it in and slightly tightened the screws, so I soon had that corrected. I was already sweating. I wonder if there is an IKEA workout program, “Come to IKEA and assemble things and lose weight! ‘I lost ten pounds on my first table with chairs.'” There are a lot of screws to be put in with a slippery wrench, supplied, of course. After an hour of doing the IKEA mind and body stretching yoga, I had a new desk. It is lovely.

The next undone chore was to get to the Beaverton Employee Store, the dreaded BES. Yes, I know everyone loves it, but having worked for Retail IT, it just seems like going to work when I visit the BES. I try not to notice the missing product that the staff should have replenished and the price tags not nicely arranged with the price not facing the consumer. It is hard for me to enjoy the shopping experience.

My Air Force One (women’s as they had no men’s due to the usual excuse of supply chain issues) had broken apart. The material is not the same in the men’s shoe (I was shocked), and it just came apart. On the other hand, I am not exactly the target consumer for a women’s shoe, so maybe we can forgive the failure.

I found a new pair in black and white (men’s) that appealed to my IT binary thinking. I have been wearing all white for a while, so it is time for more color, well, just one. I bought them after being in a long line with BES adding cashiers as the line got very long, and put the shoes on. I tossed the box.

Next, I recycled my broken shoes and sadly got out my even older AF1, which made it through the start of the pandemic and the unexpected five-week New York City trip. “Thank you, old friends,” I thought as they were added to the regrind box at the BES. The next stop for those shoes is to become a running or play surface at some park. Not a bad ending.

After that, I tried to make dinner, Ivar’s Clam Chowder, but it tasted strange to me, and I dumped it. I had some Spanish Bar Mix and decided dinner was covered by lunch. I found my fav mix at the new grocery store Basics.

I wrote more Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure encounters in my new partially set up office in Corwin’s former bedroom. It is nice to have a workspace again. At Nike, we gave up desks unless you are a Senior Director or higher. So my only workspace is at my house. I often feel at work; I could be at Starbucks instead of at work as most meetings are still Zoom or include a Zoom contingent. The shared desk space seems to say, “work from home.” But, Nike leadership has required a return to work for most. I am trying to make it work, but mentally I find it harder to work at the office at a loaner desk on Zoom meetings all day.

I ordered a replacement service Internet service, Ziply Fiber, to replace Xfinity (Comcast), as my Internet access has again collapsed to slow speeds. I hate to change and discover how much pain a new service will bring, but Comcast is known to throttle access, and I constantly see this happen since they upgraded our local hardware. One visit from service is all I am willing to do. I tried to have the automatic reset of my modem to solve the issue, and that did not work. Time to move to a service that wants my money. Sorry, it has been twenty years with all the companies that were bought out to make Comcast. Once Ziply Fiber is installed, I will cancel everything from Xfinity–I am keeping the local phone number for now.

I read some more WW2 and hoped to have no nightmares from the mass deaths, stupidity, and lies that the book reminds me are the currency of war. A currency that was well spent in the 1930-40s.

I turned off the light and the radio; I had Alexa play Kink.FM for me while I read. While I like Kink.FM is playing increasingly oldies, and I am looking for good new Alternative Rock.

I sleep soon after the yoga of IKEA workout. I dream my usual dream of having to travel somewhere and trying to get ready. While I am glad the nightmare did not come, sometimes I get some excellent Dungeons and Dragons and Call of Cthulhu (another role-playing game focusing on horror) encounters from my nightmares.

“Yes, the encounters were pre-played,” he says with a haunting look.

Some details, I continue to read the darkness that is The Second World War by Anthony Beevor. I have reached the Nazi invasion of Russia and the beginning of the mass killing of Jews, about 20% of the book, and the desire of the Nazis to starve the Slavs. The account clearly shows the intentionality of the mass murders with the Nazis planning the deaths, their numbers not later estimations, of millions by starvation. It is hard to read. It does echo our times with war, and the false rumors spread to blame Jew and spies for everything going wrong. The use of media to create violence through fear and anger is nothing new I see when reading this story of eighty years ago. 

The book is a story about the people who endured WW2. The author is also clear in his writing and documentation that many folks who committed atrocities understood what they were doing–he footnotes that. The story is about heroes and villains–a sadly human tale. 

Feel free to call or send cards. Susie resides at:

Allegiance Senior Care
Adult Foster Care Home
9925 SW 82nd. Ave.
Portland, Oregon 97223

The house phone number: 503 246-4116

Thank you for reading.

Going backward, I was in bed early and managed to sleep until fourish and then back to sleep. Before going to bed, I finished the project with the final protective spray of Mr. Hobby’s Mr. Super Clean Clear Gloss with UV protection. I use this expensive clear spray on figures and models when using oil paints to highlight or even show wear. It protects the underlying paint and decal work (the decals must be treated with a decal setting solution before being exposed to a solvent-based glaze).

I also finished another encounter in the Dungeons and Dragons 5E adventure I am writing. ‘Encounters’ are literally where the player characters encounter a challenge. I have continued to model the structure after the Egyptian tombs I have read about and added a little Hollywood movie stuff with the D&D magic and monsters. I have avoided stealing from previous adventures I have played or written, but I put in one classic 1970s trap because it fit the theme but placed many ways to avoid the full damage and thus making the trap more interactive. When playing D&D, you have to avoid long sections where the person running the adventure, the Dungeon Master (DM), is talking and handing out damage. It is a roleplaying game, and you need to allow roleplaying.

I wrote more here and there all day when I had a break at home. I want to finish the first part of the adventure so I can start on the next part. The Egyptian theme is just the start of a quest.

Before that, I stopped by McDonald’s and got a hot fudge sundae and fries. I had skipped dinner, and it was cooling down to just 95F (35C), so a sundae seemed to fit the day, and well, the fries are always good.

I had come from the hot First United Methodist Church in Beaverton. Somehow the church sanctuary was warmer than the air outside! The choir was practicing for Sunday, and Zophia, Dondrea’s girl, was there to hang out. I brought some board games and taught Zophia two new games.

We first played Azul, an enjoyable game with actual miniature tiles and one of the best games available according to BoardGameGeek (and running about $35 or less, it is one of the cheapest too). The game takes a play-through to learn, and Zophia had it down by the completion of the first game, only thirty minutes including the teach; again, an excellent game. I was not playing well in the second game, and Zophia smoked me. She got two rows of five in the last scoring, yikes. She liked Azul.

Next, I learned that young folk like Zophia only know Star Trek from the more recent movies. The board game Star Trek Panic is set in the original TV show. The iconography, challenges, and pictures were lost on Zophia as they all refer to ancient (to her) TV reruns. But, the panic system has a cardboard model of the USS Enterprise that gets cardboard explosions put on it when hit. It looks spectacular. It is also cooperative with Zophia playing Spock and I playing Scottie, and we barely survived the two practice missions.

The game is from 2016 and was a big splash when it came out as Paramount supported the game’s creation and allowed photos from the TV show to be incorporated into the game. Star Trek Panic is a remaking of Castle Panic, where the players defend a cardboard castle from invaders, and like the Star Trek game, the Cardboard walls come down as the castle is damaged. I also discovered, as I said above, that the theme is aging poorly as younger folks do not know the original 1960s TV show.

Aside: The movie Dune had produced one new game and reprinted the original (and somewhat insane) Avalon Hill Dune board game, even with a special version incorporating art and pictures from the new movie. Dune Imperium is an excellent balanced board game. And the Dune board game is not, but its insane system is a treat to play for a few hours with the right six people all plotting to win and to ensure that “the spice must flow.” As you would imagine, the only complaint is that Dune Imperium is too good of a game, and the theme is lost in the play, while Dune is all theme, and good strategy might not mean you will win and even includes a crazy betrayal mechanism.

Returning to the narrative, Choir practice finished in the sweltering church, and we packed up. Azul was a hit, and so was The Forbidden Island last time.

Moving back in time, I had lunch at Abhiruchi Indian Cusine. They still do not have their buffet running, but they have a special that is cups of what you would find on the buffet. It was delicious and brought back many pre-pandemic memories. It was too much for lunch, and as I said, I skipped dinner. I had unsweetened hot chia.

Skipping mundane details such as traffic and remembering to not use my phone when sitting in traffic next to a Beaverton Police car, I spent an hour with Susie at hummingbird house. I cut my visit short as I did not want to stress my back. Susie was in her recliner when I reached there. She was ready when I arrived and decided she would love a visit to the park next door. She loves getting roses, and Mister Lincoln, a hybrid tea rose I planted last year, had a nice bud that I cut for Susie.

We enjoyed the park and stopped by the cedars and saw the same, I believe, swallowtail butterfly still fluttering around the trees. I have seen the butterfly for weeks now. But, according to my research, it is a Methuselah now as it should only live two-week.

We called Susie’s mother, Leta, Zorida, and my mother, Barb. Susie had an excellent time chatting with everyone while we enjoyed the last cool of the day (it would be over 100F/37.6C in most of the area by 4PM). Susie had a happy time and truly loves going outside. Jennifer had Susie on the porch the morning before Air Volvo arrived, and she had just put Susie in the recliner before I came.

Moving to the start of the day, I was up late at 7:30, finally sleeping in, wrote the blog, and was late seeing Susie after 11ish. I had liberal coffee and a croissant I bought at Basics yesterday. It is a bread-like industrial product that would scandalize a Frenchman.

Thank you for reading. It is nice to finally unwind this week from work and many of the travails that have been my life for the last year. It is tough when the pandemic is just a background issue compared to the other issue. Sleep is finally returning, and the back pain is fading. It was a good day.